More of the Same
I didn’t get home until 11 pm tonight, so I missed the whole game. But watching the replay and perusing the play-by-play, this one seems to hit a lot of 2025 themes. Inability to hold leads, a blown save, a Manfred Man failure in the top of the tenth, even with good players at the plate, and a merciful end in the bottom of the tenth.
I’m kind of in a weird place now. I’m still watching Braves baseball (well, I didn’t watch the last two nights, but I had other stuff going on) but I realize that won-loss just doesn’t matter much any more. I can’t get too exercised by a blown save, or an extra innings loss — it just doesn’t move the needle very much. I find it somewhat amusing that there are people who want to Iglesias to do well not because it will help the Braves directly win games, but because it means AA could get something useful for him from a contender. I don’t care much about win-loss, but I still want Iglesias to do well because I want the Braves to win.
I would rather have the Braves play well and lose than play lousy and win… not that there’s much risk of the latter lately. But the team is in a funk and I’m in a funk and I’m not sure what the funk it will take to change it. Unlike some, I’m not about making some massive team shakeup… I’m not opposed to a massive team shakeup, but I just think that sort of thing is hard to pull off without making your team dramatically worse. Changing the manager probably wouldn’t hurt, but I’m not sure the DeRosa-led Braves will be able to get Chris Sale any healthier or correct any of the seven other things that aren’t Snit’s fault. On the other hand, it may well correct absolutely all the things that are Snit’s fault.
Michael Harris II
…may be coming out of it. It’s too late for it to make any difference this year, but it’s far from too late if we’re talking about the arc of MHII’s career. This has been a very painful four months, and MHII is a big part of tht pain. But all will be forgiven in 2026 if there’s nothing permanently wrong and if he can demonstrate he has the ability to make the adjustments that every player needs to make to have a successful career. You cannot take four months to come out of a slump and continue to have slumps.
2:35 game tomorrow: Bryce the Elder against Leiter the Younger.
You write well, JF. Can you translate your skills to the diamond?
After last night, the Braves would be VERY lucky to get a bucket of balls for either Iglesias or Ozuna. Both of those guys will just be released at the end of the year. The only guy showing anything was Pierce.
With MHII’s track record why would we think he will hit in the first half next year???? I’m still on record that he is only worth batting ninth. I know Riley is streaky but he cannot just strikeout instead (4 K’s last night). I cannot imagine why Olson did not try to score on the Baldwin grounder when the Rangers were fumbling it around. Even if Olson were out, Baldwin would have reached and the outcome would be the same. de los Santos took two pitches to blow it.
Beyond Johnson and Murphy, the Braves have nothing worth trading.
My feeling at the time was that Olson had already been thrown out at the plate once, so it was reasonable for him to be less aggressive than, say, Ronald on the base paths. He just had a split second to decide, in any case. At least he was in a position to score, unlike Riley or Allen…sigh.
The argument that Iglesias has value is that closers are these mysterious creatures whose talents ebb and flow for inscrutable reasons. A couple of hot weeks is all you need to convince yourself “maybe this guy can help us in the final push.” Think of the Braves signings of Alejandro Peña in late Aufust 1991 for Tony Castillo, who was a serviceable pitcher. Jeff Reardon a year later would be another example, though admittedly we didn’t give up much to get him. A better example is the late Octavio Dotel, who cost us Kyle Davies.
The argument for Ozuna is exactly the same as the argument for Sosa amd Pederson in ’21… a guy who can hit but who isn’t getting the at-bats he should ebcause of the situation his team finds himself in. Though I grant that players in those situations will rarely cost anything,
Both last year and this year, the Braves entered the season with sky-high expectations that were utterly ruined by an across-the-board offensive collapse and extraordinary spate of injuries. Once we’re done blaming the hitting coaches, we probably ought to start looking at the training staff (and all other staff members whose jobs are focused on player mechanics and health) – this team simply has not done a good job at keeping its players healthy.
Ozuna’s performance notably degraded over the course of the year, which suggests to me that he might have benefited from more time off, which was something the Braves explicitly considered and rejected when they first announced his hip injury. There has just been a lot of questionable decisionmaking, up and down the roster.
Of course, I still have no idea why we let Griffin Canning go.
On July 27, the Marlins are over twice as likely to make the playoff as the Braves (according to FanGraphs). If someone told you that on Opening Day, what would think had happened?
Bubonic plague?
To answer Kip’s question from yesterday, no I will not be going to the game at Bristol Motor Speedway. I knew a guy who went to the Tennessee-Virginia Tech game there and he said he might as well have been trying to watch from the top of Mt. LeConte (which is in the Smoky Mountain National Park if you’re unfamiliar with it.) It’s not a baseball or football venue,imho.
100 losses incoming.
Yes, the pitching injuries are what they are. But this season could have been middling with better organizational depth and better decision-making; it didn’t have to be the nuclear meltdown it has become. Clean out the front office and start anew.
I’m not sure it matters any more how many runs we score. Again 2nd and 3rd and less than 2 outs and we score nothing. Meanwhile, Elder issues three walks and they all score.
Elder’s going to get a chance to see just how high his ERA can go without getting replaced.
I don’t recall the mid-70s and mid-80s teams being this bad.
Really. Would Griffin Canning and Ramon Laureano be worse than Montero and Profar and a whole lot cheaper?
You know Canning tore his Achilles awhile back ?
After last night’s game I decided to busy myself around the house instead of watching this one. From the comments I’m reading, I take it Elder didn’t quite meet the criteria for a quality start.
One thing to add about our offensive woes. I think Hyers has been a positive. We are leading the league in pitches per AB, or so I thought they told me last night. Hyers was never going to make Nick Allen hit or make Verdugo and Albies not washed up. Matt Olson and RAJ have both improved on last season’s work especially with OBP. Shawn Murphy has turned in a nice year. If Michael Harris actually turns it around and starts hitting like a star again, I think you have to call Hyers a great success. The type of philosophy change they are attempting isn’t like flipping a switch—it takes time.
I forgot to point this out the other day: Hunter Stratton is the only player in MLB history whose first and last name are both Northeastern Ski Resorts, at least until Jiminy Whiteface makes his debut.
That Stratton rubs me the wrong way. Seems like he was born with a Silver Spoon in his mouth.
Recapped.