Well, as nice as it would have been to take seven of seven from the Metropolitans, that won’t happen. That wasn’t ever likely, was it?
In his second big league start, Didier Fuentes showed that he is not going to replace the level of performance we have been getting from Chris Sale. You didn’t really think he would, did you? Fuentes’ line was ugly—6 runs, 8 hits, only one K in 3.1 innings
But don’t blame young Didier for this loss. Even Chris Sale would have struggled to win this one. The Braves offense turned in another feeble performance, scoring one run on four hits through eight innings. You probably did expect that. Drake Baldwin plated a run on a solo homer in the 4th. We have come to expect good things from Baldwin—Love the Drake. In the ninth, RAJ drove in two with a single to cut it to 7-3, but it was too little too late. With two walks to go with that hit, Ronald got his OBP back to .500. Do we expect he can keep that up? I wouldn’t put anything past him.
Really, don’t give up on Fuentes. I remember Steve Avery’s MLB debut in 1990 as a 20 year old. That debut was highly anticipated as Avery had been the #3 overall pick just two years before. He went 2 and a third and gave up 8 runs on 8 hits. They stuck with him the rest of that year, even though his ERA as a rookie was 5.64. By the next year he was one of the best pitchers in the league. And Tommy Hanson’s MLB debut in 2009 sticks with me. I was excited to see him; my son had seen Hanson in the AZ Fall League and raved about his stuff. Hanson gave up seven runs in six innings. Despite that inauspicious start, he went 11-4 with a 2.89 ERA and was third in ROY voting. Truth is, I don’t expect much from Fuentes this season. If I had to guess, I’d say his rookie season will be more like Avery’s than Hanson’s. But to me his stuff looks like it could play in the bigs, once he learns to command it much better then he did tonight. Do I expect that? What do I know?
What I do know is that the Braves can make it 6 out of 7 from the Mets on the season with a win Thursday night. Will we get a strong performance from Grant Holmes and a bounceback from the offense? It’s maybe too much to expect, but it’s not too much to ask.
My bad. I had to miss one of the 4 games and I picked this one. Back into harness tomorrow. Taking my granddaughter to see her first MLB game, now that she’s old enough to drink.
Listen to him, granddaughter. He’s pre-med.
Juan Soto is going to be hitting homers of Braves pitching until I’m 52 years old.
Don’t feel too bad, he’s going to be earning that paycheck till we’re all dead and gone.
Can’t expect too much from Didier. I would assume Jackson Stephens will take his spot once he’s up and running.
A nice tweet about RAJ, who really seems happy right now, on and off the field.
https://x.com/BenVerlander/status/1937539009372389501
Didier was not optioned today so the Braves appear to be giving him another start.
I will say he only walked 1, and his first trip through the order was good.
I wonder if the trick with young pitchers like Didier is to stack them, that is more than an opener, but less than a traditional starter– once through the order, around 3 innings.
Greetings from Vegas…
Because last night’s 7:30 pm flight didn’t leave until 12:25 am (yes), I got to watch most of the game on the Mets TV.
Keith Hernandez was prescient. He said that because Didier only had 2 pitches (and didn’t have an effective off-speed/change-of-pace), his 2nd time thru the order would be different from the first. Effectively, the Mets could sit on a pitch. He was right.
FWIW, yup, I thought last night’s game would be our most difficult of the 4, due to pitching matchup. Nonetheless, let’s make it 6 of 7, and maintain residence inside their heads.
they just showed a stat about how hard we’ve been hitting the fastball over the last good stretch, which is good to see given how we absolutely hammered the fastball for two years and then have been bad at it this year.
uggggh ump, why you do Ronnie that way
Every dadgum time it turns into a game against an opponent’s bullpen for one reason or another, these guys faceplant. A tradition unlike any other, regardless of the lineup or the hitting coach.
Funny I thought we were playing 4 against the Mets. Oh well, the off day is sorely needed
I’m sure the irony isn’t lost on anyone that the guy who 3 hit us was cut by us prior to the season to save $5 million. What I said at the time was there were a lot worse things you could do with $5 million, so I would keep him. If he can’t start, he could probably be a passable reliever with his nice change.
That’s ok because we needed that money to spend on no one. We are still saving it for a rainy day. We’re so stacked at starting pitcher that we had to start a guy with no significant experience above A ball.
The team landed at 2:10am so they’re getting no-hit tonight.