I’m staying up much later than usual for me. So to fill the time I’m creating “content” before the game is over.

¡Happy Cinco de Mayo! 

Who is the best Atlanta Braves player who hailed from Mexico?  (Americans whose ancestors came from Mexico don’t count.)  Vinny Castilla, if you count career WAR, and not just time with the Braves. His career bWAR was 19.3, but only 0.7 in his time with the Braves in 1991-92 and 2002-03.  If you count time with the Braves, it may be Jaime Garcia, who managed 1.2 bWAR in the portion of 2017 that he spent with the Braves.  No, wait, I just saw that Alex Treviño posted 1.8 bWAR in 1984, his only season with the club.  Hold on, I just remembered Maximino (Max) Leon, the pitcher who spent parts of  six seasons with the team in the 1970’s.  He totaled 3.6 bWAR in those seasons.  I believe Max is the champ.  But feel free to let me know if I overlooked anyone.

By the way, if you extend this to franchise history, 1950’s infielder Bobby Avila, who has the third most bWAR of any Mexican-born player (28.5), spent his final season with the Milwaukee Braves, but his bWAR then was just 0.7.

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Game is still going, so more “content”:

Questions for Your Recapper

Nobody asked for my opinions on these questions.  But since I’m forcing myself to stay up past my bedtime, I’ve got time on my hands.  Of course, you have the right not to care what I think.

Last night, should Weiss have left Ritchie in to pitch the sixth?  Of course not.  We all agree on this one.  I’m sympathetic about the short-handed bullpen, but JR was pretty shaky at that point.  Even if it made sense to bring him back out in the sixth, Weiss should have gone to get him after the first walk.  Or if not then, certainly after the second.  The three run homer was all too predictable.  Having said that, Weiss has been terrific.  The team is clicking on all cylinders, no doubt due in part to Walt’s clubhouse leadership, and WW’s bullpen, lineup, and pinch hitting decisions have left little for internet randos like us to question.

Should Anthopoulos regret the extension he offered to Spencer Strider?  Well, if Spencer pitches like he did Sunday for the remainder of the contract, Alex and all the rest of us will regret it.  But I for one am cautiously optimistic that Strider will be a solid-to-excellent starter for most of the rest of his time in ATL.  He’s smart, he knows his body and his stuff, and he’s relentless in trying to improve.  His command of the fastball was terrible on Sunday, but I’m guessing that will improve. His fastball won’t likely be 98-99 again, but 95-96 will work.  What gives me optimism is the curveball he showed Sunday.  He desperately needed a third pitch to go with the heater and the slider, and that hook could be it.  But what do I know?  As Yogi Berra almost certainly did not say, predictions are hard, especially about the future.

But if you want to judge the wisdom of the contract extension offered to Strider, you shouldn’t look to what ultimately happens.  Instead, did it make sense given everything he knew at the time?  When AA offered the extension in October 2022, Spencer had only pitched for one year in the big leagues.  Under the terms of that deal, Strider’s salary jumped to 20 million this year and 22 million in 2027 and 28 (and with a club option for that amount in 2029).  The benefit for the team was to buy the first two years of his free agency at below market rates; the risk was that Strider would not be very good by 2027-29.  Given the unworldly stuff and results Strider showed in 2022, I’d call that a reasonable risk.  But what about the risk of injury, you ask? Remember that Strider had already had TJ surgery while in college.  But who hasn’t?  Max Fried had TJ right after he was signed after high school, but has remained quite healthy ever since.  The injury to Strider’s elbow in 2024 may turn out to make the contract a bad deal for the Braves, but that remains to be seen.

Should AA regret the extension he offered to Austin Riley in 2022?  See the above re judging on what was known at the time.  His deal was for 10 years and 212 million.  Riley certainly looked like a star at the time of the deal.  In each of 2021, 2022, and 2023, Austin was a 6 WAR player.    When he signed the deal on July 31, 2022, his OPS was .964 after 101 games.  Obviously he hasn’t kept that up in 2024-26.  Without the extension, Riley would have been a free agent this past offseason.  Would he have gotten 7 years at 22 million/year?  Had he kept up his 2021-23 production, he’d get far more than that.  Given what we know about Riley as of now, will he turn out to be worth 22 mill/year through 2032?  Don’t ask me!

Did AA make the right decision when he let Freeman walk and promptly traded for and extended Olson?  Yes.  I love Matt Olson.  But wait, wouldn’t it be good to have kept Shea Langeliers?  He’s turned out to be one of the best young catchers in the game.  Fortunately for AA, he drafted Drake Baldwin later that summer of 2022.  AA could not have known how good Drake would turn out to be—like Langeliers, one of the best young catchers in the game.  Sometimes you get lucky.

How would I perform if I had to make the decisions a GM must make?  Poorly.  I tend to assume in life that things will work out, and the best case scenario will occur.  I wouldn’t be clear-eyed enough with my favorite players to make realistic projections about their futures.  But that won’t stop me from opining on the GM’s decisions whenever I feel like it. 

Which ads are more tiresome and irritating during the broadcast, the political commercials or the promos for the upcoming country music concert at Truist?  Both.  I refuse to choose.

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The game is over so I better get to the recap.  And what a terrific game it was!  Bryce Elder got the start and was excellent.  He’s about to convince me that the improvement this year is for real.  Bryce went six, striking out nine and surrendering only two hits.  But one of those two hits was a two run homer by Crawford in the third.  George Kirby was equally good for the Mariners, going seven strong innings.  Mauricio Dubon drove in two with a double in the fourth to even it up, and there it stayed. 

The Braves’ pen was outstanding.  Dylan Lee struck out the side in the 7th and R Suarez got them 1-2-3 in the 8th with 2 Ks.  So it was 2-2 going to the ninth.  Matty O led off the ninth with a home run to center to give the Braves a 3-2 lead.  Remember that I said above that I love Olson?  That was before the game.  Now he’s about to become my favorite since Mr. Aaron himself.

They went to the bottom of the ninth with a slim one run lead.  Raisel Iglesias came on for his first appearance since he spent the last two weeks on the IL.  Would he be rusty?  Does he have lingering shoulder soreness?  Would it be better if his first game back was not in such a high pressure situation?  No need to worry.  Iggy looked as good as he did before the IL.  And that is as good as Iggy has ever looked.  He gave up a bloop single and a stolen base, but with the tying run in scoring position he struck out Arozarena and induced a weak grounder from Canzone. Braves win!!

What a big and satisfying win. Among other things, the Braves streak of not losing a series is still alive.  They can win this series tomorrow in a 4:10 eastern time start.  My MLB app says Holmes is starting, but the tv guys say it will be Martin Perez.  Either way, don’t bet against these Braves.